Radiator



Sept. 26, 1933. B. PENDLETON RADIATOR Filed July 3, 1931 MHBHMHMHHI EMMMHHHE LOU/'5 pend/67%)) I GttormyS Patented Sept. 26, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RADIATOR Louis B. Pendleton, St. Louis, Mo.

Application July 3, 1931. Serial No. 548,498

24 Claims. (01. 257136) 7 This invention relates to improvements in radiators, and more particularly to an improved arrangement and assembly of the component parts of radiators adapted to be of the housed-in or concealed type, together with certain improvements in the radiator enclosure and fluid connections.-

The increasing demand for the location of radiators in wall recesses for domestic heating purposes has resulted in the need for improved provisions for access to the space in and around the heat radiating elements themselves, as well as to all parts of the recess or enclosure about a radiator or built-in or wall-recessed type;

The advantages of this type of radiator, as contributing to a saving in theefiective floor space, are well known to those skilled in the art. Such installations usually involve a recess constructed in the wall of a room, for example, beneath a window, a'recess suflicient to accommodate the radiator being constructed, usually at the time of building. Such a recess is usually of a sufficient depth to receive the radiator proper, together with its supply and return pipes and a suitable control valve. These recesses are usually so constructed as to require the room side of the radiating structure to be permanently closed as by plastering, suitable openings being left so that cool air may be taken into the recess near its lower portion, and discharged near the upper area thereof into the room to be heated. Such openings are, however, too small to permit of manual access for'cleaning or adjustments.

A usual difliculty exists in connectionwith an installation of prevailing types, in that the radiator of itself serves as a dust trap due to the continuous circulation of air therethrough. This results in afrequent, substantial accumulation of foreign matter in and around the tubes, fins or coils of the radiator, as well as in the recess or enclosure therefor. With a view of obviating the foregoing prevailing difiiculties this invention has, as a general object, the provision of means whereby the radiator may be bodily moved or swung from its normal position of rest, outwardly of its wall recess and into the room, so as to provide for easy access, as for cleaning, not only about all parts of the radiator proper, but to all parts of the recess or housing therefor.

A further object of the invention is attained in the provision of flexible or swingable fluidtight joints, which may be and preferably are of such a construction as to require no flexible conduit elements for the supply and return connections.

Yet another object of the invention is attained in an improved assembly of a radiator of so called built-in type, which is mounted for swinging movement into and out of its normally enclosing recess, without requiring any part of the radiator or its fluid connections to be loosened or removed.

An additional object of the invention is obtained in an arrangement whereby a pivotally mounted radiator is counterbalanced to facilitate its swinging movement toward and away from its normal position of rest, whereby to facilitate displacement of the assembly for cleaning around the radiator and in the recess or enclosure therefor.

Yet another object of the invention is obtained in an improved construction of radiator, particularly of a type adapted for domestic heating purposes, in which the fluid conduit portions are more effectively and eificiently arranged so as to require a minimum overall space and particularly a minimum depth, whereby to reduce the required depth or thickness of a recess or housing for the radiator.

A further object of the invention is attained in an improved structural combination, in a radiator, of a system or series of conduits together with a recess-closure, which also serves, both by radiation and convection, to increase the heating efficiency of the assembly.

An additional object of the invention is attained in a radiator of built-in type, of two or more parallel, adjustably connected, radiating elements, the arrangement being such that by varying the relation of the radiating elements, they may be adjusted so as to alter the location of the center of gravity of the assembly with respect to a pivot axis therefor, and may be selectively'swung about their axes to permit access between the paired radiating units.

The foregoing and a number of additional objects, not enumerated, will appear from the following detailed description of a preferred executional embodiment of the invention, considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig, l is a vertical sectional elevation of a radiator assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention, showing in full lines, the normal position of rest of the radiator, in a wall recess therefor, and showing, in dotted lines, the position occupied by the radiator when swung outwardly of its recess to permit cleaning of the rear side of the radiating elements and likewise to permit access to all parts of the Wall recess for purposes of assembly and installation; Fig. 2 shows the main heating element as it appears from the outside, or the room side of the assembly, a portion of this element being shown in vertical section along a longitudinal plane therethrough; Fig. 3 is a section through the radiator and enclosure, in the normal position of the radiator as taken along line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section along line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional elevation showing a preferred form of bracket through which the auxiliary heating unit is adjustably supported by the main heating element, and Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the bracket or support appearing in Fig. 5.

Referring now by numerals of reference to the drawing, the present invention presupposes, according to a typical embodiment as a built-in radiator assembly, a portion of a wall 7, a recess 8 therein, which may be dimensioned conformably to the radiator assembly, and a suitable lining for the recess, as suggested at 9, and which may be of sheet metal or other suitable heat-resisting material, and the lower portion of which may constitute, at least in part, a supporting frame for the radiator asesmbly, as hereinafter more fully appears. The lining 9 is formed angularly, in part, to provide a bafiie portion 10, near the upper part of the enclosure, and a baffle or deflector 11 near the lower portion of the recess. The deflector 11 further serves the purpose of eliminating a right angle corner at the innermost portion of the enclosure and thus serves to prevent a dust pocket at this point. A steam or hot water inlet pipe is shown at 12, and to this there is connected a control valve, such as a regulating cook or the like 13, provided with any suitable control member such as the handle 14. As a means of supporting the supply and return connections, as well as the valve 13, at a definite height in the enclosure, there is provided a support 15, which may consist of a pair of threadedly related tubular portions, this member thus being of adjustable height so as to establish the supply and return locations at predetermined distances above the lower portion of the recess, so that the pivot points of the radiator may be fixed, as will hereinafter appear.

For example, through an elbow 16, the heating medium is supplied to the radiating elements hereinafter described, and preferably at the opposite end of the recess or enclosure, there is provided a return 17, which serves, according to the nature of the heating medium, to direct the steam condensate or cool water back to the boiler or other source of heat.

The supply and return pipes are, respectively, directed into and from the opposite lower end portions of a main radiating element indicated generally at 18 (Fig. 1), a partial elevation of which appears in Fig. 2. This main radiator includes, on the rear side of the structure, a series of vertical radiating fins or ribs 19. These fins extend vertically in the illustrated example, and are disposed closely parallel to each other so as to constitute a heating radiating surface coextensive with the member 18, and hence entirely over the room side of the recess. While the ribs 19 are shown as of solid construction, they may be of hollow or tubular form so as to provide for circulation therethrough. The central area of the element 18 is provided with a plane closure portion 20 extended at a right angle to, and along the outermost edges of the ribs 19, this closure portion serving substantially to conceal from view, the remaining parts of the radiator as it is positioned in the recess. The intermediate edges of the fins 18 terminate in the plane face of the unit, and so collectively present a substantial, unobstructed radiating surface which may be aligned with the wall of the room. This portion of the device thus serves not only as a closure, but as a radiating surface coextensive with the entire room side of the structure. The arrangement of thin, closely parallel fins is such as to provide a series of open-side vertical air tubes or flues, directed in close proximity to the flow of heating fluid, and extending from the cool air inlet at the lower portion of the closure, to and beyond the heated-air discharge or outlet area at its upper portion. The element 18 includes, besides the radiating fins 19, a series of water or steam conduits designed to effect a circulation of the heating medium, preferably in a zigzag course according to the arrows appearing in Fig. 2. Certain of these conduits or passages, such as 21 extend substantially horizontally and transversely of the main radiating member, terminating at the ends of the radiator in riser or header portions 22. According to the arrangement now preferred, the upper series of passages 21 are connected to the lower passages 21 through V shaped channels 23, adapted, with the passages 21, to effect a cross flow or counterfiow of the heating medium as it traverses the radiating structure. It will be noted that the passages 23 on the opposite halves of the radiator are not in direct communication with each other, but are separated by short vertical partitions, such as 24 (Fig. 2).

As appears from the drawing, the result of the arrangement of passages 21 and the fins 19, as heretofore noted, is to provide cool air supply passages through and between the fins at the lower portion of the main radiator and beneath the lowermost transverse passage 21, and likewise to provide a heated air discharge passage of similar conformity and area between the passages 21 disposed near the upper portion of the member.

My preference is to construct the main radiator, as a casting, in which the passages 21, 22 and 23 are initially formed of metal tubes about which are cast the remaining portions of the structure such as the fins 19. While the member 19 is thus a composite structure, including certain preformed tubular portions, the element as a whole is formed in such a manner that the fins 19 and passages 21, 22 and 23 constitute a single, assembled unit. This method of construction is preferred for reasons of economy, although, if. desired, the member 18 may obviously be of cast construction throughout.

Disposed at the rear of, and preferably carried by the radiator 18, is an auxiliary radiator 25, detachably carried by radiator 18 as through a pair or more of brackets 26 (Figs. 5 and 6), the brackets being adjustably secured as by a bolt 27. together with a screw 28 and a cooperating slot 29, to the rear face of the radiator 18. Supply and return connections indicated respectively at 30 and 31 (Fig. 3) serve to bring the lower portions of the radiators 18 and 25, into fluid communication, and hence to constitute them as a single circulating unit.

The auxiliary radiator 25 may be of the more conventional sectional construction, as shown by Figs. 1 and 3, consisting of the desired number of laterally disposed and interconnected sections 32. If desired, however, the auxiliary radiator may be cast as a single unit of any suitable type.

By great preference there are employed the fluid connections to the radiators, swinging joints of a type such as to constitute a swivel connection, first of the main radiator with the supply and return, and secondly of the auxiliary radiator to the main radiator. Several suitable types of swinging steam'or water joints, suitable for this purpose, are nowavailable to the trade, one type thereof being shown in section in Fig. 4, wherein itis seen that the riser 22 is provided with a bushing 33-having a flared internal seat at one end which is, in turn, engaged by a correspondingly flared external seat shown as formed on the sup ply elbow 16. Both the elbow and bushing are shouldered as at 34, one of these shoulders being rotatably engaged bya flange union nut 35, which engages the bushing 33. The flared surfaces are ground toconstitute a fluid tight connection between the members 16 and 33. Although packing is not usually necessary, these joints may, if desired, be provided with any suitable form of gasket or packingrings (not shown). This type of joint is 'by' preference located at four points in the assembly as described, viz, to connect the main radiator 18 to the supply and return, and

i also as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, at the points of 25' connection between the main radiator and the auxiliary radiator 25.

Inorder definitely to fix and maintain the axis of rotation of the assembly, particularly in installations including a heavier type of radiator, I prefer to provide a bearing or pivot at each end of thestructure, as shown in Fig. 4, this pivot con-- sisting of a threaded stud 36, a peripheral part of which is journaled in an aperture 3'7 in the adjacent portioniof the lining member 9. By this provision, the lining 9 also constitutes a supporting frame, serving at all times to keep the member 18, considered as a closure, in plumb and alignment with the room wall and radiator recess.

It results from the presently described flexible or swingable connections, that the entire assembly, including the main and auxiliary radiators, may be'swung outwardly, as a unit, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 and thus provide access to the surfaces at the rear of the recess, as for purposes of cleaning and assembly. It is further seen that, upon lowering the brackets 26 through bolts 27 and 28, the auxiliary radiator 25 may be swung rearwardly with respect to the main radiator, so as to enable cleaning of any normally inaccessible radiating surfaces.

As a means of limiting the outward swinging movement of the radiators, I prefer to provide a flexible tension element, such as a chain. 38 (Fig. l) secured near the upper or outer portion of the radiator 18 and anchored at a suitable point 39 within the enclosure.

' The described arrangement of the enclosure or liner for the recess (Fig. l) ofiers certain advantages in directing the circulating air into and through'the recess, in that the inclination of the bafiie 11 serves not only to eliminate a dust collecting corner, but also serves to divert the entering cooler air upwardly through and around the radiating portions of theassembly, thence upwardly into contact with the baffle portion 10 which, in similar manner, serves to deflect the air outwardly near the upper portion of the main radiator and thence into the room to be heated. As best seen in Fig. 1, there is formed along the uppermost passage 21 and in the path of outward flow of heated air, a projecting lip resulting in a channel 40, which serves the purpose of a dust pocket at this point, and to which access is afforded, for purposes of cleaning, when the radiator is swung outwardly into the room as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Air-moistening provisions may be made in the described assembly as by a humidifier, shown as a water receptacle 41, which may be carried by a suitable bracket 42. The receptacle 41 may be of lesser length than the enclosure, and so di posed as not to impair, to any degree, the effect of the deflector portion 10.

The described adjustable features of the .racket 26 whereby the radiator 25 may be disposed at different positions with respect to the main radiator, results in a facility for altering the location of the center of gravity of the swingably mounted assembly including both radiators. Such alteration within limits, is of value in securing the most desirable counterbalancing arrangement of the radiator 25 as affecting the ease of movement of the radiator assembly. It will appear that a large part of the mass, particularly that of the auxiliary radiator, lies to the rear of the main pivot extending between the supply and return of the main radiator. The counterbalancing effect of the radiator 25 also serves to prevent, when the radiator is in its normal closed position, any tendency for it to swing outwardly into the room, and thus obviates any necessity for catching or looking devices which might otherwise be required to maintain the heating elements in their normal upright position.

It will appear from the foregoing description that while the various parts of the assembly and their details of construction, designand connection have been described in great detail, that a number of such parts may be substantially varied in their arrangements and combinations, for example, the arrangement of fluid passages through the several radiating portions may be substantially varied, as may the manner of assembling the main and auxiliary radiators. appear that while the device has been described as a heating radiator, it may obviously be employed, with or without minor modifications, for thecirculation of a cooling medium, and will be equally operative whether installed entirely within a wall recess, partially within, or entirely without a recess, and that in such installations an ornamental outer casing can beprovided attached to the metal housing to give a suitable finish to the assembly. It will further appear that the device is entirely operative employing only the main radiator or closure portion, or some equiv-a lent thereof, and that the type and arrangement of the enclosure and the fluid connections, may

all be varied substantially within the intendment of this invention; and that the foregoing and a number of other changes may be made without departing from the spirit and full intended scope of the invention, as defined by the claims hereunto appended.

I claim:

1. A radiator structure adapted for installation in a wall recess and including a closure member for such recess, and a radiator member, the

closure member being provided with openings adapted to permit the circulation of air therethrough and hingedly related to the radiator member.

2. A'radiator structure for use in a wall recess, including a closure member for the recess, a radiator member at the rear of the closure member, and normally disposed in the wall recess, and pivot'connections disposed so that one of said members may be swingably moved relative to the other member.

Also, it will 3. A radiator structure adapted for installation in a wall recess, including a radiator element, an element normally screening the radiator element from view, and swivel means permitting at least one of said elements to be tilted away from the other element, to allow access therebetween.

4. In a radiator structure of wall-recessed type, a closure element and an auxiliary radiator element, normally disposed in parallel adjacence, and means for swinging said elements into divergent relation ior access therebetween.

5. A radiator for use ina wall recess, including a pair of pivotally connected radiator portions and means permitting one of said portions to be moved into and out of a wall recess therefor, without loosening the fluid connections associated with the assembly.

6. A radiator assembly including a section having passages arranged for circulation of a heating medium between the opposite ends of the radiator, and radiating fins extending transversely of the circulating passages, said fins terminating in an integral plane face portion extending at right angles to, and along the outermost edges of said fins.

'7. A radiator of enclosed type, consisting of a section provided with a plane face portion adapted to form an exposed closure, substantially horizontal circulating passages formed in the section, a plurality of vertical heat radiating fins formed on said circulating passages, and fluid connections of swingable type disposed rearwardly of the face portion of said section so as to be substantially concealed thereby.

8. In a radiator assembly for installation in an enclosure, the combination with supply and return pipes directed into the enclosure, of a plane face radiator unit including a casting characterized by a series of parallel vertically projecting ribs on its inner face, said casting having a'defined cold air intake opening adjacent to its lower end, and a defined heated air outlet opening adjacent to its upper end, a plurality of tubular passages extended in angular direction interiorly of the casting and in thermal contact with said vertical ribs, a plurality of auxiliary radiator units in fluid connection with the passages through the casting, and means for attaching said auxiliary units to said casting said means adapted to permit access to the space between the assembled units.

9. A radiator structure including a housing, a closure element for the housing, passages for the circulation of a heating medium formed internally of the closure element, said element having an intermediate imperforate area, perforate portions on opposite sides of said intermediate imperforate area and air passages connecting said imperforate portions, fluid connections permitting a tilting movement of said element, and auxiliary radiating elements carried by and detachably connected to said tilting element.

10. A radiator structure of wall-recessed type, including a housing, an exposed face section, pivotally carried by the housing and forming a closure therefor, said section having substantially horizontal circulating passages formed therein, a plurality of vertical heat radiating fins formed on said circulating passages, and fluid connections of swivel type, disposed rearwardly of said section, so as to be substantially concealed thereby.

11. A radiator structure including a housing, a closure element for the housing, provided with internal passages for the circulation of a heating medium, said element having an intermediate imperforate area, perforate portions on opposite sides of said intermediate area and air passages connecting said perforate portions, swivel fluid connections to said element, an auxiliary radiating element carried by the said closure element, and swivel connections between the auxiliary and closure elements.

12. A radiator assembly for use in a wall recess, including a supply conduit at one end, a return conduit at the opposite end and a pair of laterally adjacent, relatively swingably mounted radiating sections one of said sections adapted as a closure for the wall recess.

13. A radiator structure including an element provided with passages for circulating a. heating medium, an element disposed laterally of said circulating element, and having a substantially imperforate intermediate area. and air openings on opposite margins of said area, means on said last named element forming a plurality of laterally open air flues directed across said area and opening at their ends adjacent said air openings, and means for swingably moving one of said elements relative to the other, in a direction to provide for access to said flues.

14. In a radiator assembly of wall-recesssed type, a closure member for the wall recess including a plurality of passages for the heating medium, heat radiating fins disposed at an angle to said passages, an auxiliary radiating unit detachably carried by the member containing said passages, supply and return conduits to the radiator and swivel connections between said passages and the supply and return conduits.

15. In a radiator assembly for use in a wall recess, a radiator unit having a flexible fluid connection to a lower portion thereof, an adjustable supporting bracket engaging its upper portion, and a closure, movable into and out of the recess, carrying said bracket.

16. In a radiator assembly for installation in a wall recess, a radiating element, an enclosure therefor, swivel fluid connections to the radiating element, and means carried by the radiator and enclosure forming a pivot for the radiating element, coaxial with, and independent of said swivel connections.

1'7. In a radiator for installation in a wall recess, passages for a heating medium, radiating elements projected from and carried by said pessages, supply and return conduits to the radiator, swivel fiuid connections disposed between the radiator and said supply and return conduits, adapted to permit a hinged movement of the radiator into and out of the recess, without affecting the fluid connections to the radiator.

18. In a radiator assembly for installation in a wall recess or like enclosure, a pair of hingedly connected radiating portions in lateral engagement with each other, and means carried by the outermost of said portions forming a closure for the recess.

19. A radiator assembly including, in combination, a structure forming a wall recess for the radiator, supply and return pipes in said recess. an apertured closure for the recess, passages for a heating medium carried by said closure at the rear side thereof, an auxiliary radiator disposed rearwardly of said passages, an adjustable bracket for supporting said auxiliary radiator from the element containing said passages, swivel connections from said passages to said auxiliary radiator and swivel connections from the supply and return to said passages, and constituting a pivot about which the radiating portions may be swung into and out of the recess.

20. A radiator assembly including a main radiator,supp1y and return passages connected into the lower portion of said main radiator, swivel connections between said radiator and the supply and return, an auxiliary radiator, adjustable brackets constituting a detachable mounting of said auxiliary radiator on the main radiator, swivel connections from said auxiliary radiator to the main radiator, the auxiliary radiator being disposed to the rear of the main radiator and so related thereto as to counterbalance the turning moment of the main radiator about the swivel connections thereto, and means for limiting the outward swinging movement of the radiating portions.

21; In a radiator assembly for installation in a wall recess, in combination, a plane face radiator, supply and return pipes therefor, said radiator being formed of a casting having a series of parallel projecting ribs or fins on its inner face, and having a defined cold air intake opening adjacent its lower end and having a heated air outlet area adjacent its upper end, a plurality of tubular passages carried by said fins and adapted for conveying the heating medium in a tortuous course over the inner surface of the casting, whereby uniformly to heat the said projecting ribs or fins thereon, swivel connections between the radiator and the supply and return pipes, adapted to permit the radiator to turn freely between such pipes and without affecting the fluid connections into and out of the radiator.

22. In a radiator assembly for installation in a wall recess or the like, the combination of supply and return pipes directed into said recess, of a plane face radiator including a casting characterized by a series of parallel vertically projecting ribs on its inner face, said casting having a defined cold air intake opening adjacent to its lower end, and a defined heated air outlet opening adjacent to its upper end, a plurality of tubular passages extended in angular direction over the inner surface of the casting and in close proximity to said vertical ribs, a plurality of auxiliary radiator units detachably mounted upon the inner face of said casting and in fluid connection with the passages therethrough, and provided with swivel connections to said casting and the passages therethrough, and means for attaching said auxiliary units, in adjusted positions to said casting, said means adapted to permit swingable separation of said casting and the auxiliary units to permit access to the space between the plane face radiator and the auxiliary units.

23. In a radiator structure of enclosed, wallrecessed type, a closure for the wall recess, a radiator at the rear of the closure, and normally within the Wall recess, and swivel connections for a heating medium, disposed within the recess and rearwardly or" the closure, and arranged to be screened from View by the closure.

24. In a radiator structure of wall-recessed type, a radiating element, an enclosure therefor, swivel fluid connections to the radiating element, and projections carried by the radiating element and forming pivots therefor, independently of, and coaxially with the swivel connections.

LOUIS B. PENDLETON. 

